Sunday, May 27, 2012

Reflections on FreeDUMB by Cindy Sheehan

“Expose
yourself to your deepest fear; after that, fear has no power, and the fear of
freedom shrinks and vanishes. You are free.”
Jim Morrison

“We perpetuate war by exalting its sacrifices...the
least the rest of us can do is resist honoring the institution (Warfare
State)” James Garner in the Americanization of
Emily

Memorial Day is a double-gut
wrencher for my family and me. Our son, brother (posthumous Uncle) and friend,
Casey (who was killed in the illegal and disastrous war on Iraq), was born 33
years ago about one hour and one minute past Memorial Day on May 29th.

As I have written and said
many times before, for most people Memorial weekend is a weekend of parades,
cookouts and sleeping in. Our family used to have a big party for Casey’s
birthday every year on Memorial weekend—never even suspecting that it would
turn out to be such a sad weekend because for those of us who have had loved
ones murdered by the Empire, it’s vastly different. No matter how many flags
“patriots” display this weekend they can never know the pain.

After Casey’s funeral and the
ceremony at the local cemetery, the limousines brought our family back to the
church hall where several restaurants and many community members had set a
lavish spread and for the first time since my life was shattered, I was
starving. However, even though I was on the verge of collapse, I was forced to
go into a room with some local veterans to receive my Gold Star from an older
woman who had her only two sons killed in Vietnam. I was in shock and received
this demented medal as fast as I could, without much reflection, so I could eat
sit down and eat.

Not long after that, I
received an application to join the Gold Star Mothers of America ®. For some
reason, I never returned the application and later, as my understanding of why
my son was killed grew, my relief that I never joined the mostly pro-war
organization grew and I was involved in founding an opposite organization, Gold Star Families for Peace, at the end of 2004.

In fact, I am a question in
the FAQ’s of the Gold Star Mothers of America group:

Is Cindy Sheehan part of your group?

Cindy Sheehan is currently in the news. She and her
organization have no connection whatever with American Gold Star Mothers, Inc.
We are a 501 C(3) organization and, as such, do not engage in political
activities. We do support our troops. After all, they are our children.

Of course, this answer
assumes that people who work for peace don’t support the troops. How ironic
this meme is when even CiaNN is noticing that 18 veterans commit suicide
each and every day—over 6500 per year—more per year than have been killed by
the “enemy” in over ten years of the US’s War of Terror. Does “supporting the
troops” mean sending them to wars based on lies for profit, then discarding
them when they return? Apparently to many reactionaries, this is the case.

This morning, a friend sent
me an article about a documentary being made about the organization Gold Star
Mothers of America ®, and the subject line was: You (meaning me) won’t be in it. Reading the article,
I found that one of the goals of the filmmakers is to “raise awareness about what it means to be a Gold Star Mother and open
Americans’ eyes — especially young people — to the sacrifice that has kept them
free.”

So, in actuality, the goal of
the movie is to promote the Warfare State propaganda that the US military is
used to keep us “free” here in the states. I really wish that I could delude myself into
believing that I am freer because my son died, but even if I believed that I
don’t even know what it means. Even if this ephemeral freedom existed, what
kind of “freedom” has to be purchased by another’s death? Patriotic mumbo jumbo
jargon is no replacement for a son.

The Gold Star mother who gave
me my star over eight years ago, now, has deluded herself for five decades that
her sons died in Vietnam for her freedom, but how much energy does that take
every day to avoid the truth? It must be nearly as exhausting as confronting the
truth, but she doesn’t have to spend any time in jail or camping out in such
places as Crawford, Texas—hiding ones head in the sand can be accomplished from
the comfort of your own home.

I, too, want the eyes of young
people to be opened, but to the fact that they kill and die for the crimes and
lies of the ruling class and their sacrifices cause pain to themselves and so
many others for the profit of a few. I want their eyes to be opened before they
enlist to the horrors of war and the images of babies being born with
deformities and illnesses because of depleted uranium and other toxins the US
military spreads around the world with the cancer of imperialism.

I want young people to
envision a future of peace and justice that isn’t wrought off of the deaths of
millions of innocent people and the destruction of entire countries.

Besides, I can personally
vouch for the truth that since my son died, my civil liberties and human rights
have been eroded to the point of ridiculousness.

Peaceful protests are
relegated to miles away from the people or events that are being opposed—I am
sexually and emotionally molested every time I fly—I have been arrested many
times for exercising my “freedom” to peaceably assemble or my “freedom” to
speech—I have been followed and spied upon—I am being persecuted by the same US Attorney’s office that protects the Bush regime—and President Obama has given
himself the right to imprison me (and you) without due process, or even murder
me (and you) if he deems it necessary. Exactly what “freedoms” did my son
sacrifice his young and valuable life for? We have freedom here in the US all
right—the freedom to take our establishment medals and shut the f@*k up if you
don’t support the Warfare State. Here in the US of A, we also can be “free” to
be as DUMB as we want—just keeping watching that TV box.

People who support and defend
the US Warfare State claim to know that my son is “rolling in his grave”
because of my activism, but I knew him better than anyone on this planet and I
was relieved and validated when I found out that Casey refused and then was
forced to go on the mission that ended up killing him. I am so proud of him and
the vets who throw their “Man Scout Badges” back at the Warfare State.

As the prophet, Jim Morrison,
implied, we are afraid of true freedom and the responsibility that it brings.
It’s so much easier to give our power away to the Warfare State and watch our
world be eviscerated for its voracious appetite.

However, the best way to
honor Casey and the millions who have died, or been slaughtered by the US
Warfare State, is to reject the propaganda and work for true and lasting peace
and the overthrow of that Warfare State by any non-violent means necessary. Only then will we be truly free.

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Cindy Sheehan's Soapbox is an independent online radio show and blog that strives to be completely free from establishment political ideology and focus on a message of peace, justice, environmental sustainability and economic equality. To this end, we provide educational and inspirational programs on topics related to these issues and we organize/promote actions working towards peace, justice, and environmental sustainability.